Time to Become King
by Mushmallow62
Summary: When one Emperor dies his son shall succeed him and so Ryuuga takes his place, but he finds that perhaps he needs to be firmer with his fathers old Advisors.
1. Chapter 1

Time to Become King

PG

When one Emperor dies, a successor will take his place, but right now there is a little problem.

To say that he was bored was putting it lightly, if anything the newly crowned Emperor of the largest kingdom in the world was just _tired. _It wasn't that he needed to sleep more, his sleeping pattern was the same as normal, but there was nothing to _do._

The moment he had been crowned Emperor he found himself dealing with paperwork and he had been trained for it, he knew what it entailed, reading through the documents and then, if he felt it was good enough not only for himself but for his people, then he would put his wax signature to it. His _advisors_ however had taken the majority of the paperwork onto themselves, believing, just because he was still a teenager; he couldn't cope with it or would make mistakes. If his father trusted these men so much he wasn't going to argue with them _yet_ but he would. He wasn't an idiot as they appeared to think he was, he knew he had to make them understand that _he _was the Emperor and _he_ would take on the Royal duties.

Right now though he was still restless so he went to the Royal stables to see L Drago, one of two Royal dragon's.

Inside the large stable the long, almost snake like body of the red scaled dragon with golden fur rested happily, looking up when he sensed the teen come towards his stable and moved towards the large door, seeing the familiar golden gleam of his crown and the white hair with the little lock of red at the front.

"L Drago," The human opened the door and the dragon slowly left its home to be outside, leaning down to let him onto his back and he sighed; "Let's go outside… the countryside,"

The dragon slowly nodded, walking out and leapt out letting his magic rise his body take them into the sky as the human leaned onto his back to look at the landscape below as he always did.

As usualy they flew in silence, until the human spotted a large fire and gently pulled at L Dragon's fur to land near.

They saw a red haired boy quickly moving with buckets to try and put the fire out, his face covered in dust and cinders.

"Ginga!" A young voice cried out from the burning farm and the red haired boy cried out;

"Kenta! Don't worry…" Ginga tried in vain to put out the fire with the other buckets near and the Emperor looked at L Drago who nodded, without needing to be told shifted it's own body size to enter the house; "Wha… No Stop!"

"Don't presume to tell a dragon what to do boy," He finally spoke and picked up the buckets by Ginga's feet; "He'll get that kid out,"

Ginga just stared him before moving to get more buckets of water before he heard; "Ginga!" And felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and he looked down to see green hair and dust covered face,

"K… Kenta…" He knelt down and hugged him; "I'm… I'm sorry, I didn't think they would do that, I thought they would have done what they normally…"

"Who did that,"

The two boy's looked at the tall man, Ginga glared at him while Kenta looked at him in amazement;

"You're… You're the Emperor," He said childishly; "Emperor Ryuuga!"

Ryuuga tried not to wince, he still couldn't get used to that title, after all it had been his father's title for his life, to now be called it by his people, it just sounded so foreign; "Yea, now, who did this?"

"Who did this?" Ginga glared at him.

"Yes, that is what I just said," Ryuuga wondered for a short moment if the red head was rather slow, but from that poisonous glare he knew that wasn't the case.

"You _ordered_ this," Ginga hissed at him, showing his the paper that appeared to have his signature on it.

He snatched the paper off him and smirked; "Those idiots," He looked at L Drago; "I think we need to put our foot down," He looked at the two, then at the burning barn; "I will deal with this,"

"No you won't, you'll be like all the others, you'll say you will do something, but you won't," Ginga asked and Ryuuga could hear the venom from his voice so clearly and began to wonder how long this had been going on.

"I don't go back on my word," He told them, matching his glare with his own, refusing to turn away from this boy, even if he was underneath him in status.

"Yea right,"

Kenta just looked at the two in confusion; "But Ginga…"

"No, they always lie, just because they have money," The red head glared at him; "I bet that's why your brother disappeared… Everyone said that he was kidnapped, but I bet it was…" Before he could finish, before Ryuuga could move to punch him, L Drago whipped his tail back and pinned him to the ground, growling out a warning.

"No, no!" Kenta began to pull at the dragon's scales; "Please…. Please stop…."

The red dragon turned to look at him, his forked tongue gently licking his cheek, almost to reassure him.

"L Drago," Ryuuga said in a commanding voice and the dragon leaned down to let his own onto his back once more; "You Ginga are an idiot. You should know the Emperor was sick for the past two years, but nothing was passed on to me until after his death… Although…" He grinned as he thought of what he would do to those so called _loyal _advisors to the crown; "You'll get a sign,"

Kenta bowed; "Thank you,"

Ginga just glared at him still and Ryuuga laughed, liking the fact that the boy wasn't cowed by the fact that he was of Royal blood as L Drago took to the sky again.

_Those Advisors… I'll need to assert myself now._

He knew he shouldn't look forward to the confrontation; after all they were the men who had been loyal to his father throughout his reign;

_Had they been loyal? Truly loyal? Or have they slowly been doing things like what I saw for myself throughout his reign?_ He amber eyes narrowed; _They will learn quickly that I am not going to let some words sway me, I want action too. I will be a different Emperor compared to my father._


	2. Chapter 2

Time to Become King

PG

Newly crowned Emperor Ryuuga needs to figure this out, although he already has an idea of what was going on.

The palace was always beautiful looking, the surfaces gleamed and if he chose to, he could probably find that his own image reflected back to him on the marble floor.

Newly crowned Emperor Ryuuga had no doubt that he had loyal servants within the castle, they were more than happy to do whatever he bade them to do. Right now though he ordered for his father's old Advisors to see him in the Grand Hall, though he smiled as he saw the oldest advisor slowly hobbling along, remembering that this man had also taught him everything he knew. Although he had no idea why he wouldn't just retire, somehow he just wanted to keep on working.

"I believe you will be there before myself, your excellence,"

As usual the man startled Ryuuga, wondering how he knew that he was behind him; the older man's eyes were fading, his stick lightly tapping the floor to make sure he didn't trip on anything.

"So it seems," He walked next to him, in no rush; "You don't have to attend this,"

"Pah! Just because I am going senile doesn't mean that I want to _act_ senile. Besides I want to hear what the commotion is about, you are finally going to make them understand that _you_ are the one in charge hmm?"

"Yes. I should have done what you said, taken the reign…"

"No my Emperor, you needed to mourn just like the rest of your family, I just wanted those advisors to see that you could be a ruler… But I forgot that you are human too," Ryuuga just stared at him, not understanding; "You need time to mourn, not just the passing of your grand father, but also your brother…"

"He's missing, not dead," Ryuuga snapped, speaking of his brother always brought out the worst in him, after all he was the eldest, it was _his _responsibility to take care of his brother and he had failed in that.

"Aye, aye he would be," The old man laughed slightly; "I remember how he would always love looking at the treasures that I had found in my youth,"

The Emperor nodded slowly, remembering that too; "He loved hearing your adventures,"

"He did indeed," He stopped at the door; "Now I must warn you…"

"I know," Ryuuga tried to assure him that he knew what to expect but the old man shook his head.

"No no, hear me out. These men have been doing this for a long time, most have been here since the middle of your father's reign,"

"But not from the start," Ryuuga placed his hand on the old man's shoulder; "You know they have been using the Royal seal to gain more money without our knowledge,"

"I had heard the rumours, but could never see it for myself," The old man conceded; "And to tell anyone the truth, I had to have proof,"

"I saw it for myself, I have the paper here… And we both know I no longer sign freehand now that I am Emperor," He grinned and the old man nodded.

"Good, good," He mumbled as they entered the room and any talking abruptly stopped as all the men in the room bowed to the Emperor, who ignored it all and strode to his seat at the high-end of the chamber.

"My Lord," One of the younger men began to speak and Ryuuga looked at him carefully, with dark brown hair with a thin golden lock that kept coming onto his face he had a look about him that made him wary; "Why have you called us here so urgently? Surely there is no threat to the…"

"There is indeed a threat," Ryuuga said, deciding to put them on the edge of their seats for as long as possible, he also hoped that they would also begin to fight and point fingers, but he didn't think they would be foolish enough to do that.

_One step at a time._ He thought to himself.

"Really? What kind of threat? And from where?"

Ryuuga just looked at the man in front of him, deciding that he didn't like him at all; "It's plain to see I would have thought," He said deadpan and the other advisors began to talk amongst themselves.

He carefully watched them all, noticing how there was a small group of men to the side, talking quietly, glancing every so often at himself and the oldest advisor. He kept his mask on, refusing to let them know that he had an inkling of what was going on.

_So, some of them are indeed loyal still._ He looked at the group of men again, remembering their names; Doiji, Pluto, Rago and Ziggurat; _They are the ones who want to take control huh? Good luck to them._

"My Lord, what kind of threat are we talking about?" The newest edition to the group of advisors and the one who was closest to Ryuuga in age, Tsubasa, asked him with a small bow.

"As we all know, I haven't taken complete," He put emphasise in that last word as he scanned the room; "control over the kingdom, today I am changing that," He noticed how the group of traitors paled slightly; "All decisions from now on shall be dealt with by myself personally,"

"But your highness the mourning…" Doiji began to speak.

"I have mourned long enough, my people need to know that I am strong enough to govern and I plan to do just that," He looked at Tsubasa again, deciding that for the moment he would give the young man some of his trust; "I want you to find Ginga and Kenta, they live in the outskirts of the kingdom. Bring them here as soon as you can,"

Without a word Tsubasa just bowed and left the room, leaving all the other advisors confused.

"Your excellence…" His old teacher began to speak; "Are Ginga and Kenta to be punished?"

"No, I am bringing them here because I have learnt that there are people in my court," He paused for a second, finding it unusual to say the words as he was so used to saying 'fathers court'; "Have been abusing their power. I will not allow this to continue,"

The advisors all looked at each other in confusion, not completely sure if he meant they were the ones who were accused of being traitors or other's.

"I will be the one to read everything that is to have a Royal seal, anything that speaks about the Royal family I will see it," He made his demand clear and everyone understood the threat that was laced in his voice.

Without another word the he nodded shortly as everyone began to leave with a bow to him again, when there was only himself and his old teacher left in the room.

The man nodded at him and began to leave the room; "I shall investigate it,"

Ryuuga just nodded at him and moved off his throne finding the secret door behind the heavy tapestry, completely unaware of what was happening to his teacher outside the door of the room.

"Well, someone has ratted us out," Doiji hissed as Rago grabbed the old man tightly who struggled; "Get rid of him. I'm sure Ryuuga will be easier to deal with without such ideas,"

"Are you sure about this Doiji?" The paler man with jet black hair asked him; "Because he's a senile old fool…"

"No, trust me, Ryuuga trusts him all too much to listen to what the rest of us have to say," Doiji just nodded again at Rago who managed to knock the old man out and carry him away; "It would seem that I was right, Ryuuga is pondering over the meeting,"

"Indeed, now how do we deal with that other one, Tsubasa?" Ziggurat asked him.

"Oh we have no reason to worry, Tsubasa comes from my house," He replied with a grin as they continued to walk away.

Completely unaware that there was someone around to hear what was being said, who knew all the secret passage ways as well as the new Emperor.

His amber eyes blinked in worry, wondering if he had come back too late as he retreated back into the secret tunnels and moved onwards to find Ryuuga, deciding that nothing would stop him from letting his brother know what was going on.


	3. Chapter 3

Time to Become King 3

PG

Ryuuga's plan is underway, but he gets a surprise.

Ryuuga lay down on his bed, knowing that he should get up, after all he had paperwork to sign, yet he could not find the energy to do so. He had noticed that his old teacher had not appeared at court that evening, but Pluto had assured him that the old man was just ill.

Hearing those words from him he realised that he should have kept a closer eye on the old man and cursed himself for not thinking so far ahead. He was lost in his own thoughts that he never noticed another person enter the room.

"B… Brother…"

With a start he sat up and looked at the teen standing before him. He was wearing a basic tunic, in a dark green colour, although he looked a little grubby but with the shocking white hair and the long red locks of hair there was no mistake.

"Ryuuto…" He whispered and stood up, walking towards him, holding his hand out to touch him gingerly as though he would fall apart or break; "You…"

"I'm sorry…" Ryuuto said and wrapped his arms around his brother; "I tried to get back for the funeral, I _did_ but…"

"Where did you go?" Ryuuga asked him, pulling him away, he was now Emperor, hugging wasn't something he could do any time he felt like it, he had to prove to his people that he was strong.

"I…" Ryuuto looked away, remember that night and began to explain what had happened.

X

He had only been eleven at the time, he had fallen in love with Ryuuga's teacher's stories of traveling and finding treasures, so much so that he wished his father, the Emperor would let him go and search for treasure too. Although it was not to be, his father was protective of both his son's, but as the youngest he got treated carefully.

The rumour had it that Ryuuto was treated in such a way was because his birth had been a difficult one, the Empress hadn't survived the birth and Ryuuto had been born earlier than expected.

Only part of that tale was true, Ryuuto had been born earlier than first thought and he was a weak baby, their mother however, the Empress lived until his second birthday when she was taken ill suddenly and died.

Ryuuga missed her so much, Ryuuto didn't know any different given the amount of nurses that kept him entertained.

However his dream was to find lost treasure, but his father kept refusing, until he spoke to Ziggurat who informed him that he _was _allowed to go and he could leave with a small group of travellers in the morning, but he had to be quiet.

So he did, only to learn that the people he was traveling with were vagabonds that were let go by the Emperor, given pardon for being in sacred grounds. He had been so scared, but they took him under their wing and he learned to survive.

X

"Why not come home?" Ryuuga finally asked him.

"Because, Ziggurat told me that the guards don't let people back in… Since I was with those people I knew they wouldn't let me return. I couldn't take my cloak off…"

"They learned who you were though didn't they?"

"Yea, After a few days I had to take my cloak off, but… They were nice to me even then," Ryuuto smiled slightly; "I learned what it was like to be one of the commoner's, it was hard, completely different to our life here,"

"Did you see people having their homes burnt down?" He asked him and he nodded.

"Yea, each paper said it was Royal degree," He frowned; "But it was always signed, there was no seal, but I couldn't tell anyone that otherwise they would want to know more,"

"That's why you came back?"

Ryuuto nodded guiltily; "Yea, I remembered the old secret chamber underneath the castle, managed to get in with no trouble at all. But who would do such a thing?"

"I think I know," Ryuuga began and he began to explain what he had learned.

"Is Dragonis okay?" Ryuuto asked him, wondering if his blue dragon would forgive him for leaving for so long.

"I think she missed you," Ryuuga said; "But now… You returning? For good?"

For a split second his brother looked so unsure, knowing that if he stayed he could never leave and live his life as he did before, but he knew that his brother _needed_ him. How could he just leave? He nodded and smiled;

"Yea, I'm here for you,"

"Good, because the plan is in motion already," He told him and explained about his plan, knowing that soon Tsubasa would return, hopefully with Ginga and Kenta in tow.

"You already came up with a plan?" Ryuuto wouldn't deny that he was rather impressed and realised that his brother had been trained for this all his life, he was brought up to deal with traitors outside and inside the palace walls.

"Yea, seemed obvious, but now I know who the traitors are, and you are going to help me condemn them… Once those two arrive,"

"But… Aren't they powerful?"

Ryuuga nodded; "Yes, but so am I, I inherited father's lands, I have now managed to put everything that went wrong and made sure the word was spread of what had happened, not that any of the Advisors of court know about it," He said with a smirk.

"I have to stay hidden for a bit longer,"

"Yes, only for a few more days,"

"All right, and then we will show them what happens when you mess with the Dragon Brother's!" He said with a cheer and Ryuuga laughed.

"They will,"

_Oh how they will regret the day they messed with us._

Ryuuto remained in hiding, always lurking in the castle though, only himself and Ryuuga knew of _all_ the hidden chambers of the castle and they made sure that no one else was aware of them.

Once Tsubasa had arrived with Ginga and Kenta in tow Ryuuto revealed himself to the trio.

"Huh?" Ginga stared at the tee in surprise while Kenta hide behind him.

"Ah," Tsubasa bowed once again to him and the other two just looked at him; "This is the lost Prince Ryuuto,"

"What?" Ginga looked at him again and shook his head; "No way… everyone knows Ryuuto was killed,"

"But there was no body," Kenta said softly, and began to shake; "And…. And…"

Ginga crouched in front of him; "It's all right," He said and rubbed his back slowly.

"But… But we have nowhere to go…" Kenta said and began to weep and Ryuuto looked at them and then at Ryuuga.

"Brother, what is your plan? I mean, concerning them?"

"Heh," Ryuuga smirked as he too looked at the brothers; "That Ginga guy has guts; he will make a loyal advisor,"

"Er, you excellence…" Tsubasa began and the two looked sharply at him; "I beg your forgiveness but… Ginga would not be a wise choice…"

"Hey! What are you talking about me for Tsubasa?" Ginga called over to them and the long haired teen sighed.

"No, you are right, he wouldn't be good in that role," Ryuuga said with a short nod and just before Ginga began to question him; "I will make him one of the Royal knight's instead,"

Kenta was stunned, even Ginga didn't say a word while Tsubasa nodded slowly; "Excellent idea your excellence,"

Ryuuto looked at his brother and nodded; "You don't have to call him that here,"

Tsubasa just looked at him in surprise.

"You can call us by our names when we don't have those Advisors around," Ryuuga clarified; "I want people I can trust in my Court, I don't tolerate traitors a lesson that some will soon learn about,"

"What are you planning?" Ginga asked him.

"Wait and see,"

X

When the day finally came, with Ryuuto standing next to his brother in full Royal uniform, looking every bit of a Prince as he was, the four Advisors moved towards the back and then they learned of their fates.

Doiji tried to weasel his way out, only for Ziggurat to pull him down, while Rago and Pluto were silent as the guards surrounded them, taking them away. The other Advisors applauded the Emperor of what he did, although it was a warning to them all that Ryuuga wouldn't allow traitors in his Court.

What he didn't realise was Rago and Pluto managing to slip away, since Doiji and Ziggurat kept fighting each other.

It was at the end of the day that he received the news.

"You can go," He waved the guards away and Ryuuto looked at him with worry.

"But that…"

"Don't worry, right now they can't do anything," Ryuuga assured him, although he was formulating a back up plan because he knew that Pluto was more cunning than the rest of his group.

"It's just…" Ryuuto sighed; "What if they try to cause an uprising?"

"If it happens then it happens," Ryuuga told him with a shrug; "Right now, we worry about what is going to happen with those two,"

His brother nodded slowly, but in the back of his mind he still worried.

_Maybe he's right, it will be fine._


End file.
